Did you know growing a beard can potentially save your life?

Did you know growing a beard is beneficial for your heath and can potentially save your life?

Not only have beards been scientifically proven to make men more attractive, research has unveiled that the beards boost a big health benefit too.

Growing a beard is and has been always a fashion trend among most men, hipsters and men with blurry jawlines always tend to get the advantage of wearing a beard. Now there's one more to cling on to your facial hair.

Beards can protect you from 90-95 per cent of harmful UV rays with a UPF (ultraviolet protection factor) of up to 21, a study by professors at The University of Queensland has previously revealed, and experts have backed up the findings too.

“While beards will never be as sun-safe as sunscreen, they certainly are a factor in blocking UV rays,” lead author Professor Parisi explained in the study.

Therefore you almost never get sunburn under that mound of facial hair.

That means growing a beard can help you to prevent skin cancer on your face but beard will never be as sun safe as sunscreen.

To be clear this means having a beard does not allow you to be under the sun for hours without using a proper sunscreen, but it will help to protect your face covered by the beard from harmful UV rays when you’re outside.

Alongside protecting a little bit of the face from skin cancer, having facial hair could also help to slow the ageing process.

“Sun exposure is the primary cause of photo-ageing and skin damage so it makes sense that if your face is covered by a heavy beard, it may well protect your skin from the signs of ageing,” explained Dr Adam Freidmann.

“This means fewer wrinkles and a reduction in age spots (liver spots) commonly found on the face,” the Harley Street dermatologist told The Independent.

The same consensus applies to those with plenty of hair on their heads, explained Freidmann.

However, as one dermatologist points out, it’s not a matter of mere stubble keeping you safe from harm.

“UV protection depends on the thickness and density of the beard,” Dr Anil told The Independent. In other words, the fuzzier the beard, the better. “There needs to be more studies but the current evidence does suggest that facial hair can protect against sun damage,” he added.

The study was conducted using mannequins who were left to sizzle in the sun, some with full beards, others partially-bearded whilst some were bare-faced.